Gay and Lesbian couples
by Clare Perkins xxxx
Summary: Clyde/Luke and Maria/Sarah-Jane
1. Clyde and Luke are gay

Clyde Langer often complained that most people their age didn't come straight home after school to have tea 'round the kitchen table.

But then most folks their age didn't spend their evenings and weekends stopping the Slitheen from siphoning off the Earth's ozone layer to sell to the highest bidder or convincing the manager at ASDA that the rampaging Barillian delegate was really their crazy Uncle George who just happened to have a strange predilection for canned peaches either.

So he supposed it was a fair tradeoff that once again today he was waiting for Maria to do the tea and had a chocolate biscuit.

Still, he thought as Maria set out four mismatched cups, at least he and Luke had better things they could be doing right now. Especially since Sarah Jane was out. And especially since Luke was wearing his favorite jeans today, the one's that clung real low to his hips.

The object of his less-than-chaste thoughts was leaning against the counter, engrossed in what looked to be a brochure. A bit of hair had fallen into his face and Clyde could tell he was chewing the inside of his lip the way he did when he got nervous.

Yes, definitely better things they could be doing with their time than having tea. And maybe Luke could be convinced of that too.

Clyde slid up next to Luke, bringing them hip to hip with a jolt. When Luke only flashed him a half-hearted smile, he looked over his shoulder to see what he was reading.

"What's this then?"

"It's a guide to coming out to your parents. You're supposed to answer these questions to know if you are ready."

"Are you sure you want to do this _today_, Luke?" Maria asked. She poured three cups of tea and sat down at the table.

"I think so." Luke hovered around the table. "No, I do," he said with more resolve, finally settling down into his chair. "But it says you have to be prepared. Because they might not react well. It says that most parents don't react well, at least at first."

"But Sarah Jane's not most parents."

Clyde grinned, grateful for the opportunity to lighten the mood–and as always to torment Maria. "And _she's_ the expert on Sarah Jane."

"No one finds that funny, Clyde," Maria snapped.

Clyde laughed as the faint blush started to creep up her cheeks, despite her protest. Maria had a huge crush on Luke's mum, Sarah Jane, had done for years, not that she'd ever admit it. Clyde wagered everyone knew about it though, probably even Sarah Jane herself. Maria was _so_ obvious. "I do, Maria," he said solemnly. "I find it hil-lar-i-ous."

"But, Clyde," Luke interrupted, "you said it wouldn't be funny when Maria ended up as your mother-in-law."

"Right, let's see that list then." Maria snatched the paper from the table, anxious to change the subject as Clyde kept laughing. "'Number One: Are you sure about your sexual orientation?'"

Luke nodded.

"'Are you comfortable with your sexuality?'"

"Yes."

"'Three: Do you definitely want to declare it at this point in your life?'"

Luke glanced over at Clyde, who had just licked his thumb and was rubbing at a spot on his left trainer. He smiled. "Yeah."

Maria shook her head–_no accounting for taste_–and went on: "'Do you have the support of family and friends?'"

"I don't have any family except for Sarah Jane."

"Well, you have friends," she reassured with a small smile, her patented let's-reassure-my-daft-best-friends smile which worked in situations of mortal peril or social miscalculation.

"Awww. You're loved," Clyde teased. He leaned over and pulled Luke towards him by the sleeve of his jersey, planting a playful kiss to Luke's neck.

"'Number Five: Are you knowledgeable about the challenges that LGBTQ people face?'" Maria continued, soldiering on despite the fact that more than once a quick peck like that between her two best friends had led to a full out snog before she could let herself out of the room.

She could almost see the gears turning in Clyde's mind as he leaned away from Luke. "What's the Q stand for?"

"Queer. Or sometimes questioning," Luke answered quickly.

"_Questioning_?" Clyde laughed. "That's you."

To Luke's credit, he didn't ask quite as many questions as he used to.

"I don't think that's the kind of questioning they mean," Maria corrected.

"'Six: What's the emotional climate at home?'" She looked at Luke over the paper. "You and Sarah Jane get on great, like strangely well," she answered before Luke had a chance. "And no one's tried to take over and/or destroy the planet in going on four weeks." She cocked her head, calculating. "Actually we're probably due for one so you might want to get on with this–before the panic sets in."

"'What's your motive for coming out now?'"

"I don't like lying to Mum."

"We haven't been lying . . . exactly," Clyde clarified.

"'Number Eight . . .'"

"How many more of these are there?" Clyde interrupted.

"' . . .Do you have available resources to care for yourself if your parents decide not to because of your sexual identity?'" She paused and looked at Luke. "Can you care for yourself? Well, it's been about four weeks since we had to have the stranger danger talk. _Again_."

"'What are your parents' views about sexual orientation?'"

"We've never talked about that exactly."

"Sarah Jane is one of the most open minded people I know," Maria stated.

"You certainly hope so."

If Maria had been an inhabitant of Risis IV, the look she shot Clyde would have severed his head from his ears and deposited them in separate rooms of the house.

As she was simply an Earth girl, the look was merely nasty and she continued: "Most of your mum's friends are gay. Except for Dad and me--not a word, Clyde--I mean, there's probably some rule at Torchwood saying you have to be bisexual to work there."

"Gwen's not. She's married to some bloke."

"Jack," Maria started to count them off on her fingers.

The boys sighed, all moon-eyes and naughty grins. They got that way every time the head of Torchwood Cardiff was mentioned.

"Jack. Ianto. Tosh."

"And what about the Doctor?" added Luke.

Clyde nodded. "There's no denying it in that suit."

"Or the way he kissed Jack goodbye," Luke said.

"Yeah, but did you see the way he snogged Sarah Jane before he left?" Clyde said.

Luke screwed up his face at the thought of his mum snogging the Doctor and Maria frowned–at the thought of Luke's mum snogging the Doctor.

"Jealous much?"

"Why would I be?" Maria covered. "Besides he's with Donna."

"And sometimes Martha," Clyde added.

"And occasionally Rose," Maria finished.

"Those are called hags," Luke chimed in happily. "Straight women who enjoy hanging out with gay men. Fruit flies. Queer Dears. I've read about them."

Clyde inwardly cringed. Despite great strides–and Clyde considered Luke's current relative coolness to be credited entirely to his own efforts–Luke still didn't quite have the hang of using slang.

Still he did love that goofy look of delight on Luke's face.

Without warning Clyde snapped his head around to face Maria. "Yeah, what you'd be if you weren't a lezzy."

"Shut. Up. Last one. 'Is coming out your own decision?'"

Luke turned to Clyde and Clyde shrugged. "I'm certainly not pressuring you."

"Yes, it is my decision. But parents are angry when their children are gay."

"If you're so worried about it, then don't tell her now."

"But I want to."

"Then tell her. Just give me fair warning."

"Because she'll be angry and there will be shouting and crying?" Luke was beginning to look more and more panicked.

Clyde shook his head. "It's not her shouting at _you_ I'm worried about."

"Listen, Luke," Maria cut in. "She accepts that you were grown in a lab to help the Bane enslave humankind. Why would she have a problem with your being gay?"

"But the parents in movies are always angry and disappointed. I don't want Sarah Jane to be angry or disappointed."

"As often as it may seem like we live inside some low-budget sci-fi---"

"Hello?!"

"Mum's home," Luke rushed, looking frantically between his friends.

Although Maria was opening her mouth to reassure him, Clyde beat her to it, catching and holding his gaze. "It'll be okay, Luke. Promise."

Sarah Jane appeared, dumping an arm load of folders down on the table–all rather conspicuously marked "CONFIDENTIAL: DO NOT REMOVE FROM U.N.I.T. HEADQUARTERS."

"Hello, you." She pressed a quick kiss to the top of Luke's head, silently thankful that he was, well, different. Any other boy would have shrugged away in utter mortification, but not her Luke. Clyde, on the other hand, recoiled when she threatened to hug him, so she settled for a playful smack to his shoulder.

"Tea?" Maria hopped up to grab the kettle, pausing just long enough to receive her customary hug–no recoiling there–as Sarah Jane sat down across from Luke.

Maria poured the cuppa and was rewarded with a wide smile and a "Thanks, luv."

Just the right combination to ensure Maria would have to turn to hide her returning blush and that Clyde would have to eat another biscuit to hide his giggle.

"I am a gay, homosexual teenage boy. I am sure about my sexual orientation. I definitely want to declare it at this point in my life."

For a moment everything seemed to hang frozen in space. A bit of biscuit hung suspended from Clyde's gapping mouth. The kettle falling from Maria's hand balanced contrary to all laws of gravity on the edge of the sink. Sarah Jane's cup was poised at her lips, the liquid swelling out just over the rim by a second miracle of physics, as her eyes widened exponentially with each word coming from her son's mouth.

As people who had traveled in both space and time, the current inhabitants of Number 13 Bannerman Road recognized the phenomenon for what it was: a moment of pure, unmitigated awkwardness.

That is everyone except for Luke, who appeared to be on a roll.

"I am comfortable with my sexuality," he continued. "And Clyde says I'm improving every day. He said . . ."

"Luke!" Clyde and Maria's voices were punctuated by the metallic clank of a kettle and a spray of biscuit crumbs. The look of horror on Maria's face was surpassed only by the sheer terror that currently graced Clyde's.

"I've done extensive reading on the subject, starting with Plato's _Symposium_ all the way through Todd Gregory's _Every Frat Boy Wants It_."

Sarah Jane calmly sat the cup of tea down in front of her.

"Well, okay then."

"Maria, Clyde." She glanced around at the pair. "I need information on the Davros Institute. That name can't be a coincidence. See what Mr. Smith can come up with?"

"Sure." Maria's hand lingered on the back of Sarah Jane's chair as she looked between Luke and Sarah Jane.

Clyde, nodding, hovered near Luke. "Okay?" he whispered, squeezing his shoulder. Luke nodded and Clyde followed Maria for the attic.

"And Clyde, I'll want to have a word with you later," Sarah Jane called.

In the hall, Maria and Clyde exchanged a look.

Alone in the kitchen, Sarah Jane looked across the table at Luke. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say in a moment like this. Most parents have 16 years to come up with profound wisdom for such situations. But she'd only had three.

"So." Very profound that.

"You're sure?"

Luke nodded, but didn't meet her eyes.

"Good."

He looked up, confused.

"Then good for you, Luke."

His forehead screwed up in confusion. "You're not angry or disappointed?"

"No, of course not. Why would I be?" She reached across the table and took his hands into hers, rubbing them gently. A few years ago she would have laughed at the thought of finding herself part of such a picturesque moment, but it seemed the most natural thing to do when it came to it.

"But you have to go through six stages of understanding to reach true acceptance."

"I do?"

"According to the literature I've been reading." She almost laughed. Almost. Luke was so earnest, his eyes filled with such sincerity.

"More of your research." She allowed herself a bemused smile. "Let's see it."

She looked at the back of the brochure. It read: "The stages of understanding are 1)shock, 2)denial, 3)guilt, 4)expressing feelings, 5)making decisions, and 6)true acceptance."

She looked at Luke again, then back to the brochure in question.

"Your announcement was a bit shocking I suppose. Startling in its bluntness if nothing else," she trailed off.

"Right, then." She cleared her throat and smiled at her son. "Oh, this can't be," she started, the affection in her eyes belying her words. "This is all my fault for letting you spend time with Jack last summer. That's three."

"I love you. That's four. As for five, no more sleepovers with Clyde. You sly little. . . But I do love you, Luke. No matter what. I loved you when you turned your iPod into a homing devise and a fleet of Geminese raiders trampled the geraniums in the front garden. And I still loved you after you stowed away on the Tardis, didn't I? And I'll love you no matter who you decide to love."

Luke smiled.

She loved it when Luke smiled.

"So Clyde . . ." she began, lifting her cup of tea once again.

"Yeah, Clyde," Luke beamed.

She winked at him over the rim. "I admit I figured it wouldn't be Maria."

"But Maria will make an excellent step-mother for me."

This time Sarah Jane did spill her tea


	2. Admitting and Proposal

"What?" said Sarah-Jane?

Maria walked over to a chair and sits down but changes to the other side to hide her pink face.

"Maria's in love with you," Clyde said without thinking.

"Boys can u leave me and Maria alone a second," Said Sarah-Jane. And the boys leave the house to go to Clyde's house.

Maria didn't move an inch until she feels a hand on her leg caressing it gently. She looks at Sarah-Jane and smiles smallie.

"Is what Clyde said true?" and Maria nods. Sarah-Jane kisses her lips softly. Maria kisses back with no regression. There soon in a full on snog. Luke and Clyde came in but went to Luke's room.

Maria starts to undo Sarah-Jane's cardigan, Sarah-Jane stops her. "No." But Maria does not listen.

Maria drags Sarah-Jane to her room. Maria got undressed then undressed Sarah-Jane.

10 minutes later they were fast asleep exhausted.

Later on they were all in the kitchen after lunch. Sarah-Jane went out and got a little pink box with a engagement ring in from what she bought earlier.

At lunch time they invited Sarah-Jane's, Maria's and Clyde' parents around. "Can I have quiet please," said Sarah-Jane and it went quiet. Sarah-Jane pushed Maria's chair around to face her and gets down on one knee. The kid's looks shocked at her even Maria who was more shocked than the boys and parents. "Maria I know we ain't been going out for long, and this is normally the boys work, but as were 2 girls I felt responsible for it, I know Luke and Clyde want a Step-Mum and I love you with all my heart. So will you Maria Jackson take this ring to tell everyone was getting married and to become my wife?" Maria gets a happy tear coming down her face Sarah-Jane knew it was a happy one as she was smiling. A second later Maria says "Yes, I'll marry you." And they kiss passionately. Everyone goes "Arrrrr, Cute," while clapping. Then Sarah-Jane pulls away and Maria opens the box what was in Sarah-Jane's hand. Maria put the box on the table and Sarah-Jane grabs the ring and slides it on Maria's finger "Perfect fit." And they both stand up and kiss.


	3. SJ M Wedding

It was the day of the wedding. Sarah-Jane, Luke, Clyde and the guests were waiting inside anxiously.

Outside the limo turned up with Maria and Rani who stepped out and went to the door. 'Here comes the bride' comes on and Maria and Rani Walk down the aisle to meet Sarah-Jane. The vicar begins. "Were all gathered here today to accept the Marriage between Maria Jackson and Sarah-Jane Smith, if anyone has anything why they shouldn't get married please speak now." No one speaks up. Maria says "I give you this ring to show our marriage and guide you and save you from the good and the bad." Maria grabs the wedding ring and slides it on Sarah-Jane's wedding finger. The Sarah-Jane copies what Maria said and slides the ring on her wedding finger. Then the vicar says "Now i pronounce you wife and wife. Sarah-Jane you may now kiss your bride." And they kiss passionately and everyone cheers.

Their Names:

Sarah-Jane Jackson-Smith.

Maria Jackson-Smith.

They go to where they eat and Sarah-Jane taps her glass to make a toast. "Maria and I have been very close as we have been through loads of adventures. I never knew she had feelings for ne and that we would get married. So I would like you to raise your glasses for the future." "To the future." And they have abit of their drink. Then Luke stands up and reads his speech "My Mum has always been there for me since the word go and she never lets Me, Maria, Rani or Clyde once before. When I heard about the wedding I was happy for them as Maria is a really good friend who was really close to me, now I'm with Clyde and I know they will support us as much as we supported them. So raise your glasses for Maria and Sarah-Jane." "Maria and Sarah-Jane." After eating Sarah-Jane and Maria went in the middle of the tables and started to dance their first dance ever together.

It was 10pm when they got home and they went to bed, made love before going sleep (Maria and Sarah-Jane) and (Clyde and Luke).


	4. The Honeymoon

The next morning Maria wakes up in Sarah-Jane's bed. She looks to her side where Sarah-Jane was sleeping peacefully. She leaned in and kissed her wife on the lips. Sarah-Jane wake up and kisses her back. They hear things downstairs so gets showered and dressed.

When they were downstairs they got a cup of coffee and sit on the sofa together. "U ready for your honeymoon?" asked Luke. The girls nod. After Maria finished her coffee, she lays across Sarah-Jane's lap trying not to squish her. Sarah-Jane puts her free hand on her tummy and caresses it as Maria plays with her hair. Maria pounts her lips out wanting a kiss, Sarah-Jane lean down and peck Maria's pounted lips. They were soon Making-Out on the sofa.

1 hour later Maria brings her bag to the car. "Ready?" Maria nods. They get in the car and drive off waving to goodbye to their Friends and Family.

2 hours later they arrive at a honeymoon house. They get out locks the car. Goes in the house and sorts their stuff out.

½ hour later they were sitting on the lawn near the safe swimmable lake eating some lunch. "Come for a swim with me," Said Maria. They get changed into a swimming costume and jumps in the warmish lake. Sarah-Jane walks to Maria and picks her up. Maria shivers as cold air hits abit of her body. They kiss romantically.

20 minutes later they get out and get dried. That evening Maria was in their bedroom in a little pretty pink dress with matching shoes and tights now fixing her hair and Make-Up. She heads downstairs to be Sarah-Jane was standing at the door.

At the restaurant they had a beautiful dinner sneaking kisses once in a while.

When they get back. They get showered together and have 3 rounds. They then put their PJs on and falls asleep in their Wife's arms.


	5. new born baby

Sarah Jane wasn't particularly proud that her first words upon learning of her daughter's existence were a resolute—"Absolutely not."

But there they were.

* * *

It had been rather too much like that bad joke about too many doctors—or was that chefs?—in the kitchen, with Harry and Martha and the Doctor, all in the exam room, chattering and gawking and congratulating.

And it had been Harry's "Congratulations, old thing, you're going to be a mum!" rather than the Doctor's rib jarring bear hug that prompted her response: "Absolutely not."

* * *

Martha Jones had called that afternoon, said she needed to come down to head quarters right away. But she hadn't said why—which meant that something was wrong.

Harry Sullivan found her as soon as she'd cleared the security check. And if they had sent him to meet her, then something was horribly wrong.

* * *

Martha's words had hit Sarah Jane like a physical blow.

She'd never suspected, never thought Maria would—

She almost staggered as she turned to leave the room without a word to either of the doctors or to the girl on the exam table who was watching her so intently–and promptly collided into _the_ Doctor as he careened through the doors, waving about some strange looking device.

Sarah Jane watched through a surreal haze—one that very well might have been the tears she was fighting back just seconds ago—as he proceeded to run the instrument over Maria, screwing up his face in concentration as it beeped and buzzed.

Never had the words "That's impossible!" been spoken with as much glee, as what currently burst forth from the Doctor. A few more beeps and clicks issued from the instrument. "And there she is," he announced proudly.

Maria looked down at the small screen on the device as Harry and Martha looked over the Doctor's shoulder. But all they saw was a nonsensical string of numbers and symbols scrolling past at lightning pace.

"A perfect combination," the Doctor went on, grinning. "23 from you"—he tapped Maria on the knee—"and 23 from you"—he jerked his chin in Sarah Jane's direction. "That clever little transmat beam."

He launched into a long explanation of how these sorts of "accidents" were nearly impossible given what transmat technology had become but not completely unheard of—a crossing of signals, a few cells left behind in just the right place in just the right combination at just the right time—"And baby's the result!"

Sarah Jane watched the Doctor's mouth move, heard _something_ coming out of it–but none of it was making any sense–_Maria hadn't–but she was_–maybe the TARDIS' translator had gone the way of its chameleon circuit and now the Doctor was speaking Gallifreyan.

The Doctor finished by rattling off a string of minute probability figures. "It's brilliant," he gushed again. He hugged Sarah Jane, lifting her off the ground.

She heard Harry's congratulations and then the words leaving her own mouth–"Absolutely not."

And then she'd left–without a further word to anyone, not even to Maria. Admittedly it was not her finest hour.

* * *

She'd gone home.

Maria hadn't.

* * *

She hadn't slept at all that night and neither had Maria judging from her swollen eyes and yesterday's clothes when she finally came home the next morning.

"We have to talk," Maria began. "But not now."

* * *

Once they did start talking, it was the same argument, on a maddening loop that stretched on for weeks.

* * *

"I'm too old to have a baby."

"Technically I'm the one having the baby."

"Maria, by the time she finishes university, I'll likely be dead."

"Don't say things like that."

"I'm not saying it for the sake of being morbid."

* * *

"You could–"

"No."

* * *

"No."

"But you're a wonderful mum."

"Luke was a teenager when I adopted him."

"A teenager who'd been grown by aliens, who didn't know the slightest bit about what it meant to be human–it wasn't exactly an easy undertaking."

* * *

"What about your work?"

"You know people at U.N.I.T. have families."

"It's dangerous."

"We've managed to survive so far."

* * *

"You've never even mentioned children before."

"_Would I even have considered this before?_ No."

"Then why are you–"

"She's impossible–so highly improbable–and yet she is."

"That doesn't mean–"

"She's you and me and that's reason enough."

* * *

"Do you want me to move out?"

"Of course not."

"It might be best."

"Please–don't."

* * *

If the option was life without Maria or life with Maria and a baby, then the choice was clear.

Especially when _a_ baby was really _their_ baby as Maria kept reminding her.

And Maria was right. Somehow the less she had thought of it in abstracts–of endless disruption to the life they had settled into, inconvenience and terrifying responsibility–and the more she had thought of _her_ in specifics–a dark haired little girl with Maria's eyes and her nose, spilling cereal in the floor, drawing flowers on the wallpaper in the study–the less impossible it had all seemed.

Not that she had whole-heartedly embraced the idea the way Maria seemed to have. But she did gradually, albeit reluctantly, accept it. Eventually.

* * *

Luke, as expected, had been ecstatic when they'd called to tell him. They had debated whether or not to wait until he was home from Switzerland to share the big news, but Maria was fairly bursting to tell him and having Mr. Smith set up the telelink wasn't quite as impersonal as a simple phone call. He'd grinned near to bursting himself and asked a thousand questions, rattled off the same string of improbability figures the Doctor had–right to the same decimal place–before finishing with "A sister–that's brilliant!"

"I knew I could count on you to be happy about this, Luke," Maria said.

Luke didn't need his keen sense of observation to see that–despite the smiles and linked hands–something wasn't quite right between the two most important women in his life. Nor did he need his vast intellect to form an educated guess as to what the problem was.

"I was lucky that _you_ found me, that you became my mum. And the baby's lucky that you're going to be her mum too."

"Oh, Luke." Sarah Jane reached out to brush his cheek through the monitor.

"I know," he conceded. "I've got to go, but I'm happy for you–really happy." He started to end the call but stopped. "May I tell Clyde?"

* * *

The next day a box of books had arrived at their front door, containing everything from _What to Expect When You're Expecting_ to _The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth_.

It was hard to take that last one too personally given the green stuffed alien, complete with tentacles and googly eyes, sporting a big pink bow that was also in the box.

* * *

Two days later another package had arrived from a more local post code, this time containing yet another book: _Sci-Fi Baby Names: 500 Out-of-this-World Baby Names from Anakin to Zardoz_.

Sarah Jane stared down at the card that accompanied it. "Where do you even buy a card that begins, 'So you're up the duff . . .'?"

She read the hastily scribbled note inside: "Might as well go for the complete set–check out page 86. Congratulations–Clyde."

Maria flipped the book open to the marked page and laughed: "Maybe not."

Sarah Jane read over her shoulder. "Agreed."

* * *

"Nothing has been normal since you moved across the street from this lunatic!"

Chrissie Jackson had taken the news of her impending grandmother-hood about as well as could be expected.

Chrissie glared at said lunatic who sat on the sofa next to Maria.

Sarah Jane concentrated on the pain in her jaw–the one that came from holding her mouth firmly closed against exactly what she wanted to say to the other woman–and let that distract her from the urge to go for the sonic lipstick.

"Now you're telling me you're having some sort of freaky alien baby!" Chrissie threw her hands up in disbelief.

"Right." Sarah Jane stood up so suddenly that Chrissie took a step back. "Our daughter is neither freaky nor is she an alien. Except for the manner in which she was conceived, she is perfectly normal."

"If you think I believe for one minute this cockamamie story–beams and matter converging, _please_–you're insane."

"Just because you're incapable of understanding the physics behind it–"

"Oh, so now I'm too stupid–"

"Stop it," Maria yelled. "Just," she shook her head, "stop."

"Maria, love," Chrissie went on. "You're too young." She looked pointedly at Sarah Jane.

"_You_ were my age, mum."

"And I loved you to bits, you know that. But, trust me, to be tied down now–"

"Mum, not again."

It was the same tired argument Maria had heard a hundred times since she'd moved in with Sarah Jane.

* * *

"If we are doing this," Sarah Jane began. "I can't go on thinking about it–about her–as a freak accident or some quirk of improbability, something we have to suffer through."

She watched Maria freeze and forget about the receipt she'd been looking for.

"And we are doing this. We're having a baby." A baby she hoped more than anything would have big brown eyes exactly as lovely as Maria's were right now.

"Oh, god." Sarah Jane's hand flew to her mouth, trying to stifle the awkward laughter that was pouring out. "That's even more terrifying when I say it out loud." She sank down onto the couch and tipped her head back into the cushions.

She was mildly startled to suddenly have a lapful of Maria–but less so at having familiar lips pressed hard against hers.

The relief on Maria's face when she leaned back to watch Sarah Jane thoughtfully was impossible to miss.

Maria's fingers fidgeted at the collar of Sarah Jane's shirt. "I think we should do something to mark the occasion."

"Like what?"

"Well, you don't want to think of her as just an accident–" Those fingers had abandoned fabric for skin as they brushed along her collar bone. "–a product of her strange conception–"

Sarah Jane nodded.

"We could give her another, _figurative_, one."

Sarah Jane's brow furrowed. She was genuinely confused.

Maria sighed as if she were being thick. "We could go upstairs and–" She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, considering, then whispered, "make a baby the more traditional way."

Sarah Jane framed Maria's face in her hands and regarded her solemnly.

"How did the national education system fail you so badly?"

Maria pushed Sarah Jane's hands away playfully and looked mildly embarrassed. "I did say _figuratively_."

"And you want to do this purely as a symbolic gesture–" Sarah Jane fought to keep from smiling. "To help me–"

"Of course." Maria flashed her a wicked grin as she stood and started to pull Sarah Jane up from the couch. "Why else?"

* * *

"Zoe."

"Maybe."

"River."

"It's too–"

"Yeah."

* * *

"Uhh," Harry Sullivan cringed. "Gosh." He squinted, studying the small black and white photograph. "We may have gotten it wrong. Might be an alien after all."

Sarah Jane rolled her eyes–and snatched back the very first picture of her daughter, fresh from Maria's sonogram that morning.

"Just for that, I think I'll mention to Martha how positively _broody_ all this has made you."

"Now, Sarah–" he warned, starting to turn pink around the ears.

"How much you want a family of your own–half a dozen little Sullivans–before you get too old."

"That's just going too far, old thing."

* * *

"Then there's _Trillian_."

"After that annoying lush? Certainly not."

"You can't mean–"

* * *

The first time she had kicked hard enough so as to be felt by anyone other than Maria had occurred at a very inopportune time–one that had left Sarah Jane blushing and Maria giggling over her reaction.

"It's not like she _knows_ what we were doing."

* * *

"It's a lovely sentiment, Maria. Really it is."

"But it's not quite right, is it?"

"No, I don't think _Andrea_ fits either."

* * *

Nesting had certainly been an unpleasant experience.

Sarah Jane had watched as the comforting, carefully arranged clutter of their house had disappeared one weekend. All the artifacts, alien or not, and art–anything with sharp corners–had been put away she wasn't sure where. Anything small or with removable parts was now placed at least at waist height. The effect in whole was disconcerting.

The purpose of this "redecorating" Sarah Jane understood–to protect the baby from potentially harmful things lying about the house–but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was more like they were protecting the house from some strange terror that was about to be unleashed upon it–and given that a child with hers and Maria's genes in tandem _was_ about to be set loose on the world, that might not have been too far off the mark.

She installed a child-proof lock to the attic door--just in case the two locks currently there and the alarm system powered by their alien supercomputer were not enough. 

Maria's precautions during this process had very nearly succeeded where the Daleks and the Cybermen and the Slitheen and all the rest had not and done Sarah Jane Smith in.

She'd gone downstairs one night to fetch some crisps Maria just had to have at 2 am–she cringed at the inevitable crumbs in their bed and the fact that Maria was going to smell like prawn the rest of the night–and promptly fell over an unexpected obstacle at the foot of the stairs with a loud curse.

Moments later clutching a bag of crisps within an inch of their prawn cocktail flavored life, Sarah Jane stood in the doorway to their bedroom and glared at the figure propped against a mountain of pillows–a mountain that now seemed to include her own.

"Maria, don't you think perhaps the gate on the stairs is a little premature?"

* * *

"Sofie?"

"_Sofie Jackson_. I like that one."

"We could call her SJ."

"No. No we could not."

* * *

Luke had painted the nursery and under his careful supervision Clyde had helped. It had taken them an entire weekend but when it was finished, all four walls and the ceiling had been transformed into a bright space-scape, every planet, every constellation, every moon to scale, all places her family had visited.

* * *

"There's always Clyde's suggestion."

"We are not calling her _Leia_."

* * *

As was only proper, they had been in the middle of an intergalactic emergency when she was born.

Sarah Jane had arrived, clothes covered in something viscous and unpleasant that used to be an alien threat, only moments before her equally slimy daughter did.

Sarah Jane wasn't particularly proud that her first words upon learning of her daughter's existence had been a resolute–"Absolutely not."

But there they were.

And here _she_ was–squirming and red faced-angry. Absolutely perfect.

* * *

"–but only if you agree to never, ever, call her SJ."

The door squeaked open and Sarah Jane and Maria looked up to see the Doctor peering in.

"Well?" Maria called. "Come and see her."

"How's the new person?" He crossed the room and bent to peer into the buddle in Sarah Jane's lap as she perched on the side of Maria's bed.

"Amazing."

He squinted to consider Maria. "And how are you?"

"Tired–lovely. _Tired_." She looked very earnestly up at Sarah Jane. "I'm not doing that again. If you want another one, you'll have to have it yourself."

Sarah Jane laughed and kissed her on the forehead, murmuring, "Those were very strong drugs Harry gave you, weren't they, my love?"

Maria smiled wanly and curled further into Sarah Jane's side. She noticed the Doctor fidgeting, rocking from one foot to another.

"Do you want to hold her?"

"Oh, yes, please," he answered eagerly. "It's been centuries since I held a new baby."

Sarah Jane eyed him sharply.

"Pssshh. Don't worry," he reassured. "Like riding a bicycle."

At those words Sarah Jane almost flatly refused to relinquish her very tiny, very fragile, daughter into his hands. She'd seen him ride a bicycle once–if you could call flailing about like a great gangly frog for a few feet and knocking over a stand of tomatoes _riding_ a bicycle.

The Doctor grinned at her hesitation; he'd been a parent once upon a time too. "The planets have realigned just a bit today, haven't they? All spinning 'round a new sun."

She stared down at her daughter again—took in the dark lashes closed tight against the bright glare around her, the round face still discolored red and purple, and the wrinkled, impossibly small, hand curled into a fist next to it.

His words did seem to sum it up rather nicely.

She finally let her oldest friend hold the newest member of her family—but not without a word of warning: "Careful."

The Doctor promptly set to making goofy faces and cooing noises as he walked around the room with her. "Oh, who's a cute baby? You're a cute baby—yes, you are." He shifted her blanket a bit to get a better look at her. "Ahh, you've got 10 little fingers and 10 little toes! But only two little ears." The disappointment in his voice was clear.

Sarah Jane and Maria shared a confused look at his assessment.

"But you've got your mummy's cute little nose and one day when you're all grown up, you can come with me and we'll go in the TARDIS and we'll—"

Maria started to shake her head, eyes suddenly wide with panic, but Sarah Jane was already crossing the room.

"Oh, no, you don't."

She held out her arms and the Doctor guilty turned over possession of his would-be-future-companion.

He didn't look nearly reproached enough to suit Sarah Jane as she shifted the baby in her arms to tuck her soft head beneath her chin and stroke a protective hand down her back. She glared at him until he started to shuffle his trainers against the tile.

"Absolutely not."


	6. Bab Sofie

Maria got up and walked over to the Doctor and Sarah-Jane looking at her daughter opening her arms wanting to hold Sofie.

Sarah-Jane passes Sofie along to Maria and stands behind her wrapping her arms around her waist.

Sofie starts to cry. "Ugh Doctor can u leave the bedroom a sec?" He nods and leaves. Maria gets her breast out and puts it on Sofie's lip until Sofie's lip accepts it and starts to drink. Sarah-Jane starts to suck on Maria's neck; Maria adjusts her head for Sarah-Jane to continue. Soon Sofie finishes drinking and Maria sorts herself out. They head up to the attic and The Doctor follows. Maria puts Sofie on her playmat and Luke turns around. "Can I see my baby Sister please?" Maria picks Sofie up gently and walks over to Luke, Clyde and Rani and passes her to Luke. "She's so beautiful." Putting his finger imbertween Sofie's little fingers. The parents smile. Sarah-Jane kisses a tired Maria. "Go on have a rest Babe."

1 hour later Maria came up to see Sofie fast asleep on her playmat. "I'll put Sofie to bed shall I?" she said frustratingly. "Sorry." She hears from Sarah-Jane. She heads to Sofie's room with Sarah-Jane following. Maria puts Sofie in her crib, putting her dummy in her mouth, kissing her forehead and so did Sarah-Jane. They link fingers and head back to the attic. But on the way through Sarah-Jane turns Maria around to face her. "I'm sorry I didn't know she fallen asleep." "It's ok." Maria replied and kissed her.

1 hour later Maria grabs Sofie and feeds her and at 6:30pm after tea she puts Sofie to bed. At 9pm when Rani and Clyde went home, Luke went to bed. At 9:30pm Sarah-Jane and Maria went upstairs to their bedroom.

They get undressed and finger eachother. Before kissing eachother goodnight, and gets in eachothers grip before going to sleep.


End file.
